Finding Grace
by lin-ifyouplease
Summary: What if there was another Mikaelson sister? What if Esther faked her own death after her family became vampires? What if she created a ripper out of her own daughter? What if Rebekah never really left town? Now that New Orleans is controlled by Klaus and Elijah, Esther is quick to challenge the authority with a secret weapon. Their own youngest sister. An Originals AU.
1. Chapter 1: Proposition

_What if there was another Mikaelson sister? What if Esther faked her own death after her family became vampires? What if she created a ripper out of her own daughter? What if they had been in hiding for 1,000 years? What if Rebekah never really left town? What if Hayley drank the wolf's bane that night in town? What if Marcel allowed Klaus and Elijah to rule the French Quarter alongside him? What if Elijah had allowed himself to love Hayley? What if the witches were never a problem?_

* * *

It wasn't easy getting Klaus and Elijah in power at the French Quarter. It certainly wasn't done without any blood shed. Word of the power addition was spreading throughout the city, and into the outskirts of the city, like wildfire. Anyone who knew a thing about the supernatural were whispering it from ear-to-ear. "The original brothers are back, and they have taken over the faction," they said to each other.

There was one particular vampire who had heard of this. A particular vampire heard this news uttered in her ear and was suddenly hell-bent on finding out the truth herself. One could never truly believe a piece of gossip, after all.

It was an afternoon like any of the sort in the early week. Elijah Mikaelson was pacing in the courtyard of his newly owned compound when he felt the presence of someone standing directly behind him. He turned around and saw the tall figure of a woman. She had strawberry blonde hair and was dressed like she was ready for a night on the town, yet she had the glimmer of the devil in her eye. He knew that glimmer in only one other person; his own brother.

"Mother," Elijah said lowly.

"Elijah..." Esther growled, "How wonderful to see you again."

"Social protocol commands me to embrace you in some way..." he shrugged, "but I don't think that formality applies to this particular situation."

"I don't expect your love," Esther sighed, "I expect a deal."

"You and I both know you're not here to reunite with your children," he said, "So I must assume that you're here to take the power away from my brother and I. I hope this deal involves you leaving and never returning."

"Centuries have past since I've last seen you," Esther grinned, "and you are still as clever and witty as I remember."

"Whatever you intent to do to us, I assure you..." he threatened, "you won't break us this time."

"Of course, gaining power is never easy," Esther sighed, "but it will be if you cooperate."

"Or I could send all of my forces against you and have you run out of town," Elijah suggested, "I quite like that solution myself."

"Your forces? Of what?" Esther laughed, "The werewolves? They won't bend at your mercy. The vampires? They listen to Marcel now. How about the witches? Wait! They want nothing to do with you. You think you have the advantage, but really, it is I who have the advantage over you."

"I suggest you take your quarrel elsewhere," he spat, "I have nothing more to say to each you."

"Suit yourself..." she chimed, "it's too bad, though. She would have loved to see daylight again after so long..."

Elijah stepped forward with a worried look on his face, "Who?"

"No one," she shrugged, "You wouldn't care since you have no interest in my proposition."

"What are playing at, mother?" Elijah asked harshly.

"Oh nothing," Esther said with a grin, "Just the life of someone very important to you..."

Elijah wanted to be afraid, but he had to keep on a good face in front of his mother. The only good thing that came from his father was his advice to never show weakness to an enemy. "You will not lay a finger on Hayley..." he hissed.

"Who the hell is Hayley?" Esther asked, raising her eyebrows, "Your latest flame, I'm guessing? You are far too easy to read, my son."

"If you're not after her then let me know your request," he requested, "After that I want you out of this compound."

"What? No kiss for your mother?" Esther chuckled, but Elijah tensed up instead, his gaze becoming much more condescending, "Fine. Just like your apparel, you are all business, aren't you?"

"Mother-."

"My deal..."

"Go on..."

"I will leave you, Hayley, and everyone in New Orleans alone when I get one thing from you."

"Enough alluding, mother," Elijah hushed, "Just tell me what you seek."

"Niklaus," she said, "Bring him to me."

"What could you possibly want with Niklaus?" he asked.

"My purposes have nothing to do with you," she responded.

"Let's say I do give in to this deal," Elijah suggested, "What do I get in return? I do get something in return, after all. That's why it's called a deal."

"I understand," she nodded, "If you give me Niklaus… I'll return something that was once very precious to you… Grace."

The sound of how the words fell off her tongue froze Elijah in the very spot that he stood. It was like he couldn't breathe and he was sent back in a flash to a better time. A time when the birds sang among the oak trees and the river flowed vastly next to a little cottage in a village of people in the viking times of Mystic Falls. He saw the flowing long dark hair of a familiar figure.

"That's impossible..." he whispered.

"It is when you remember how you last saw her…" Esther grinned, "it's not if you factor in that she was a vampire before any of you were."

Elijah's jaw dropped and it locked in place, making it impossible for him to think of the words to say in response to this. What he had thought for a thousand years turned out to be a lie, and a rather torturous lie at that. He had tried to block this part of his life out. It was almost too good to be true that Esther was saying this now.

"Little Gracie..." he gasped.

"She's not so little anymore, Elijah," Esther said proudly, "She's a thousand years old, just as you are… except she's a bit more ruthless than you remember."

"I thought that-."

"You also thought I was dead too, but I guess things are never really what they seem. Didn't your father and I ever teach you that growing up?"

"What have you done with her?" Elijah demanded, "How is she alive after all these years?!"

"I guess you can ask her when I trade her to you for Niklaus," Esther teased.

Elijah wanted to speak against her, but it was too soon to say anything. By turning down this proposition, he would be giving up the opportunity to save someone important from, what must have been, a terrible existence. However, by accepting the agreement, he may be handing over his only brother that he's got left on the slight chance that Esther would hold up her end of the bargain. It was too risky to pick one side over the other.

"That's my Elijah…" Esther giggled, "Always thinking things through piece by piece…Very well then, you have the week to decide. I'll be back in this very spot at noon."

Esther didn't allow him to respond before she turned her back on him.

"What if I say no?" Elijah asked quickly.

She stopped walking, the clicking that rang through the compound ceasing and echoing like a chill in the air, then she looked over his shoulder and gave the most sinister grin as if it came from death itself. It was no surprise where Klaus inherited that look.

"I'll kill her," she said deeply, then continued on her way out of the compound and onto the streets.

It took no time at all for Elijah to run from the courtyard to the door of Hayley's room, knocking on it several times, hard, and quickly, but controlled at the same time. Hayley knew what this knock meant. Something was wrong, so she made her way quickly to the door and opened it to see Elijah standing there as if he had seen a ghost. He wasn't even looking at her directly in the eye, more like he was looking through her.

"Elijah...?" Hayley asked cautiously.

Elijah took a few deep breath, rubbing his hand over his forehead before speaking, "You would not believe the conversation I just had with my mother."

"Your mother?" she asked, confusingly, "You told me she was dead."

Elijah nodded heavily, "I assumed she was dead until she came into this very compound."

"That's… that's-."

"Completely terrifying and frightening, I know."

"Why?" Hayley said, raising her eyebrows, "She's your mother. Shouldn't you be thrilled?"

"My mother wasn't exactly the friendliest sort to her children, as I recall," he explained.

"What did she want?"

"New Orleans, I believe," Elijah said, "She wants to make a deal with me."

"Whatever it is, don't do it," Hayley cautioned.

"I'm not quite finished…" he hushed, "She wants Niklaus in exchange for my youngest sister…"

"Rebekah?" Hayley gasped, "Does she have her captive?"

"No…" Elijah said shakily, "I never told you this, Hayley, but..."

He was nervous, she could tell, so Hayley took his hands in hers and whispered, "Come in. Sit down. You looked absolutely terrified."

He agreed with her and didn't argue with her when she pulled him into the room and sat him down on the bed with her hands still in his.

Elijah took a deep breath before speaking, "I had another sister… Grace Mikaelson."

"What?" Hayley gasped, "You have another sister and you never told me?"

"Neither Rebekah, Klaus, or myself have told anyone about Gracie since she died," he explained, "The memory is simply too painful to relive, so we kept it as our own family secret."

"and your mother wants Klaus in exchange for her," Hayley repeated.

"Exactly. She says Grace is alive and well…" he explained, this time to himself. He was at battle with himself about what was fact or fiction, "but that can't be. I watched her die. All of my siblings did."

"but apparently she's not," Hayley said hopefully, tightening her hands around his, "if what your mother is saying is true. Grace is alive! You should be happy."

"I want to be…" he nodded, "but there is a part of me that is telling me to tread lightly over the subject…"

"One thing is for sure," she added, tilting her head slightly to be able to make eye contact with him, as he kept looking off into the distance, "Don't tell Klaus about this deal. If he knows his mom wants to use him to take New Orleans for herself, he'd slit both our throats, yours for considering the offer, and mine for just knowing."

"You have an excellent point," he said, licking his lips several times, "Agreed. We tell none of this to Niklaus until I've examined the situation thoroughly."


	2. Chapter 2: Before

It was certainly a restless night for Elijah that night. A simple dinner and stroll down the city would take his mind off of Grace, no matter what Hayley said or did to help. He may have put on a face for her, but she could tell by the way he was breathing harshly in his sleep and how he would mutter her name that this was getting the best of him. Perhaps that was Esther's intention after all, to get under Elijah's skin with the one thing she knew would drive him to insanity.

"Elijah..." Hayley whispered, rubbing his shoulder closest to her, but he didn't wake up, so she tried again, "Elijah," she called much more forcefully, grabbing tightly onto his arm, but it only seemed to get worse. She reached towards his hand, "Elijah!"

* * *

_Hayley wasn't in her bedroom anymore; she was in the woods. These woods were unfamiliar to her. She looked around and saw a little cottage just up a hill. The ground was covered in soft grass with roots and rocks sprinkled around the land. There was a river just off to the side of where she stood._

_Gradually, the sound of children came running down the hill, giggling like school children. There were 2 boys. One was much taller than the other. The taller one had dark hair and the shorter one had blonde hair._

_"Where do you think she ran off to this time?" the shorter one asked._

_"I don't know," the taller one shrugged, "She couldn't have gone far."_

_"Up here!" a smaller voice shouted._

_In the tree was a small little girl with smooth olive skin that matched the boys beneath her. She had dark flowing hair which resembled the tall boy's, and it was long and silky as it flowed in the wind._

_"There you are!" the short boy shouted._

_"Come back here!" the tall boy called._

_The little girl smiled at them, then stuck her tongue out at them._

_"You should climb down at once!" the tall boy groaned, "You don't want father to see you up there, do you?"_

_"I could fly if I wanted to," the little girl said proudly, stretching her arms out on either side of her._

_"I'd like to see you try!" the short boy challenged her._

_"Just be careful!" the taller boy cautioned._

_"I'll be fine if you catch me," the little girl yelled before throwing herself off the tree only to be caught by the taller boy, "See? I knew you'd be there to catch me, Elijah."_

_"Did you ever think I wouldn't, Gracie?" the younger Elijah laughed, setting little Gracie on her feet._

_"I told you I could fly, Niklaus," Gracie said, sticking out her tongue to the smaller blonde boy who must have been the younger Klaus._

_"You didn't fly very far, little pigeon," Niklaus teased, causing Gracie to gasp, which sounded like a hushed scream._

_Gracie threw herself towards Klaus, which caused him to fall over and laugh._

_"Elijah! Do something!" Klaus called out._

_Elijah looked at his brother and sister, fighting amongst the grass, and instead of stopping it, which was the first thing anyone would assume he'd do, he jumped in and joined the fighting between them, laughing just as hard and playing just as recklessly as any other child. It seemed so unlike him, Hayley thought._

_The scene faded away to nightfall. Elijah was older, more familiar to the man Hayley knew in the present day. He had longer hair, however, and he was dressed in rags that didn't look quite ready for the battle he was facing. There were fire torches everywhere that were, either keeping light to the village, or used as weapons against the threat they were facing. It wasn't clear to Hayley about what it was they were fighting against._

_"Elijah!" Mikael called to him, "Get back to the cottage and find Grace!"_

_"No father! I want to fight!" he argued._

_"Do not talk back to me, son!" Mikael scolded, "Now go and find your youngest sister before she perishes in this battle as an innocent!"_

_He heard a faint scream in the distance, which he wished didn't come from the cottage behind him. Unfortunately, it did._

_Elijah turned himself and ran towards the cottage, throwing his weapons at the door as he slid himself onto his knees where he saw Grace, crying into her hands._

_"Grace!" he gasped, "Are you hurt? Are you alright?"_

_"Elijah?" Grace asked helplessly, "Is that you?"_

_"Yes," he sighed, wrapping his baby sister in his arms, "It is me. I am here. Are you hurt?"_

_"No..." she said, crying into her brother's shoulder._

_"Then why do you weep?" Elijah asked, looking down and lifting a finger to wipe away a tear from her cheek, "You are safe now. I am here to protect you."_

_"You are here," she repeated, "but Niklaus and Henrick are not..."_

_"Niklaus and Henrick?" he asked._

_"Yes..." she nodded, worriedly, "I don't know where they are, but they said they were leaving and they asked me not to tell mother and father... Elijah, I'm scared for them."_

_"Sh..." he whispered, stroking her hair lightly as his other hand held her tightly to him, "They will be fine... they have enough strength and bravery to make it out alive, wherever they are... you must believe in them."_

_While these words may have soothed her mind, her heart was still weeping for the blood shed in the battle occurring outside of her front door. There was still fire burning down homes and people. It was like Hayley could feel everything she felt just by observing things from Elijah's perspective._

_"Just close your eyes, little lilac," he said quietly, "Do not think about any kind of destruction or fear... just listen to the sound of my voice and my voice only... Imagine a better place... a perfect place where there are no battles, no fighting, no fire... imagine your safe place."_

_"Elijah?" she said into his shoulder._

_"Yes?" he asked, looking down at her._

_"Why do you call me lilac?" she whispered, "Niklaus always calls me pigeon. Why lilac?"_

_He chuckled and brushed a piece of hair out of her face._

_"Because when you go outside in the spring, you lie amongst the lilacs," he explained, "You always carry one in your hair when you're happy. Because of that, calling you lilac reminds me of when you're happy, and that makes me feel better. Do you understand?"_

_She nodded and smiled, nuzzling her head in between his shoulder and neck._

_"You won't leave me, will you?" she asked softly._

_"Now why would you ask that?" he asked back, raising his eyebrows._

_"Because all men want to fight," she stated, "They want to hurt each other and kill because it's fun... they'd rather see a real battle than stay with the younger ones who can't help themselves."_

_Elijah looked around at the fading battle around him. All the sounds that remained were those of the fires that were dying down and the men running around, tossing weapons towards each other and giving commands as to how to secure the perimeter of the village. He looked at his baby sister, seeing her cower into his side. It was amazing how much of her feelings of security were dependent on him. He was one person. All he could have done was hold her and yet she wasn't shaking or crying when she was with him._

_"Not all men..." he replied, "I'd much rather stay here and keep you safe..."_

_"Truly?" Grace asked, looking up at him._

_He nodded and kissed the top of her hair, "Truly," he said, then he reached around his neck and untied a black string, "Hold out your hand, lilac."_

_Grace opened her palms upward in front of her and he dropped a necklace in her hand. It was a black string that had a metal flower tied to it._

_"It's pretty," she said, looking at it from different angles as she tilted her head._

_"I want you to have it," Elijah said, rubbing her back softly._

_"Truly?" she asked._

_"Yes," he nodded, "It was intended for you, after all. See? It's a flower-."_

_"A lilac," she said happily, "Like me... thank you, Elijah."_

_"Of course, my dear sister," he said, "Now whenever you feel in danger or alone, you'll always have a piece of me with you."_

_She wrapped the necklace around her neck and held the flower in her hand, leaning against Elijah as she closed her eyes with a smile on her face._

_The scene faded. Hayley didn't see what had happened next, which was a great surprise to her. She had assumed form context that the next event in Elijah's family history was the death of his youngest brother, Henrick. To her surprise, she didn't see any part of that memory. She wondered whether or not he even talked to Grace at all during that time, which was a little confusing, given the conversation they had in the house during the battle._

_Instead, the scene in the house faded to a meadow with fresh lilacs growing amongst a bunch of grass that grew to a hill that led to that same house. It was the same setting as the first vision, only spring was much more prominent at this moment. Down the hill came Grace, running with her hair flowing free in the wind with 2 braids at the front of her hair to keep it out of her face. She screamed in delight as she made her way down the hill without falling. Behind her came a boy who seemed to be just a little older than her with hair in his face. There was no doubt that he was a brother of Elijah's, which meant that this was simply siblings at play, although they both seemed a little old to be playing chasing games like children, but from context, Hayley guessed that Grace was an incredibly free spirit._

_"Come and get me, Kol!" she cheered, dangling Elijah's necklace in her hand with the flower dangling from the black string, which was securely in her hand._

_"That's the plan!" the boy, who must be Kol, cried out._

_"You're efforts are useless," she spat, teasingly, "No matter how fast you run and how hard you try, I will not give up this necklace to you."_

_"I just wanted a look at it," Kol defended, "There really isn't anything, in the village, quite like it."_

_"You want it so you can give it to some other village girl to make her fall in love with you," she laughed, "Too bad. It's all mine and you're never going to get it from me."_

_"I could if you slowed down, Gracie," he joked, "You're too fast!"_

_"That's what you get when you choose hunting lessons with father versus flying lessons with me," she bragged, "I've fallen from all sorts of heights before. Running fast in the woods doesn't scare me. Not one bit."_

_"Then I guess you won't be afraid when I catch you," he mocked, jolting himself forward, causing her to step backward and make herself run deeper into the woods, running over tree roots, dodging trees, ducking below branches, and picking up more speed as they got closer to each other._

_In the distance, she saw a figure walking towards her with their hunting gear in hand, not noticing the scene they were walking in to._

_"Elijah!" Grace screamed._

_He looked away from the ground to Grace, who was running towards him. She ran right to him, then grabbed his shoulders and hid herself behind him, as if he were a shield._

_"HA!" Gracie shouted, "Now that I have Elijah guarding me, you can't get to me."_

_"Kol, Gracie, what is the meaning of this?" Elijah asked._

_"I just wanted to see her necklace," Kol said._

_"YOUR necklace, Elijah. He wants it so he can give it to a village girl to make her fall in love with him," she tattled loudly to Elijah, "That's what he told the girl. I heard what she said. She said she likes flowers, and THEN she said she likes necklaces because her father made her mother one. I know that's what she said! I as spying on them!"_

_Kol tensed up as he began his pace towards Elijah and Grace, "Why you little-."_

_"Calm yourself, Kol," Elijah said, putting his hands up against him, "You do understand that this necklace is property of Grace and myself, yes?"_

_"I didn't know it was yours," Kol said, "and I wasn't stealing it. I was going to look at it so I could figure out how to make my own."_

_"So then you, Gracie, accused him too soon?" Elijah asked, looking over his shoulder._

_"I must have," she answered quietly._

_"Good," Elijah said proudly, bending over a little bit with his hands out behind his back, "Now come along. We should get back before mother finishes making our supper."_

_Grace smiled and used the invitation to jump on Elijah's back with her arms securely around his neck, but not too tight. The three of them started to walk back._

_"What about my necklace?" Kol asked._

_"OUR necklace," Elijah and Grace corrected._

_"You know what I meant," he scoffed._

_"I'll see to it that, after supper, you and I will gather our tools and head out together," Elijah promised, which made Kol smile._

_"Brothers! Graceanne!" Finn called from the top of the hill, "Come in quickly! Mother and father wish to speak to us!"_

_Judging by the urgency in Finn's voice, Elijah knew something was happening. He set Grace on her feet and lead her and Kol up the hill towards the house. _

_The scene faded once more, but Elijah and Kol were inside the house with blood all over their lips and chin. Grace was in the corner and seemed to be hiding from what was in front of her. Elijah looked around for a moment and noticed her cowering, trying to hide her face from what was happening around her._

_"Gracie..." he whispered, stepping towards her, "It'll be okay... you can drink from this woman here... it's the only way you'll survive."_

_He held out his blood covered hand to her, but it only made her more frightened of him._

_"Enough of this," Mikael shouted, and he pushed past Elijah, grabbing Grace by the arm._

_She screamed loudly, trying to break free from her father's grasp, but her desperate cries for help didn't seem to make him flinch. Elijah didn't know what to do. He knew he couldn't cross his father. Rebekah pleaded to Mikael to let her go, but nothing stopped him in his tracks. Niklaus made sure that Rebekah didn't do anything she'd regret later, by holding her by her waist._

_Mikael threw Grace onto the ground in tears, then pushed her face onto the human's arm, where Grace drank the blood, but was still crying._

_"Can't you see she doesn't like it!?" Rebekah cried, "Stop this!"_

_Grace pushed the arm away from her mouth and threw up all of the blood onto the floor._

_"Graceanne!" Esther gasped, running and kneeling by her side, "Look at mother..."_

_Esther placed her hands on either side of her face, then looked to the rest of the family, fearfully._

_"It didn't work..." she whispered, "You all are fine... but I fear Graceanne isn't ready..."_

_The house dissolved into the village square. Elijah was standing with Rebekah and Klaus as they carried bags on their backs. They were walking towards the house while it was dark outside, as if they were coming home from somewhere._

_"I don't understand how it didn't work on her," Klaus said._

_"Perhaps she's too young," Rebekah suggested, "Maybe her body isn't ready for that kind of magical intake."_

_"Or perhaps she's stronger than we all thought," Elijah added, "she may have rejected the spell altogether by herself."_

_"Poor Gracie..." Rebekah muttered, "To see all of her safe haven turn to ash as we all became monsters."  
_

_"Don't say that," Elijah said, "I'm sure that after all we've been through, Gracie will still love us the same way she always has."_

_"There is far too much love in her heart for it to go away in an instant," Klaus assured her._

_Suddenly, a blast of fire went through the house that the three of them had called home. They all looked to each other, then dropped their bags and ran towards it, fear striking each of them in the heart._

_"Father!" Rebekah shouted as she saw Mikael standing in their way of the door, "What is happening?"_

_"Your mother is trying to spell again on Gracie," Mikael said, "Everything is going to be fine as long as you do not disturb them."_

_The flames that stretched through the roof of the house started to grow. The smoke was reaching them and they started to cough from the overwhelming sensation. _

_"The house will burn with them inside it if we don't do something!" Klaus protested._

_"Don't stand against me, boy!" Mikael threatened._

_With Mikael's attention on Klaus, Elijah pushed past him and lead Rebekah and Klaus inside with him to see Esther holding Grace down on her knees by her shoulders. Esther was looking to the sky as if she was possessed._

_"Gracie!" Rebekah shouted._

_Grace looked from the fire to Rebekah and her brothers. _

_"Rebekah...?" she said softly, "Niklaus? Elijah...?"_

_A piece of the roof fell, missing Esther and Grace by inches. It caused her to scream, but she could not move. _

_"Help me!" she cried, "I can't move! Help me!"_

_Esther's body pulsed and she gasped._

_"It is almost complete," Esther cheered, but it was too late, for the flames were already surrounding them ._

_"Let's go!" Mikael shouted, grabbing his children by their arms._

_"We can't leave her!" Elijah pleaded._

_"If you want to live, you'll come at once!" Mikael ordered._

_Elijah looked from his father to his mother, who had Grace in her arms tightly. She was coughing from the smoke and the fire that was growing larger around her._

_"Elijah!" Grace screamed, "Elijah! Help!"_

_Mikael grabbed Elijah by both of his arms and dragged him out of the house, even when he tried to move against him, his father was too strong. _

_"Elijah!" Grace screamed again, this time louder and much more ear shattering._

_"Close your eyes and find your place, lilac," he called as he was dragged out from the house. _

_From where the rest of his siblings were standing, they could see the house with every inch of it on fire. The house came crumbling down at the sight until it was like a huge fire pit. There was nothing left behind but the screams of his mother and youngest sister._

_"Gracie..." Elijah whispered._

_There were muffled sounds of his family crying and grieving all around him, but there was no way to tell what they were saying. All that was seen was the blank and empty expression on Elijah's face as he watched his sister crumble in a pit of ash and fire. Grace was gone and there was nothing left but smoke and blackened wood. That was the last time Elijah ever saw her face._

* * *

Hayley gasped as she removed her hand from Elijah's. She had seen his dreams; the dreams that must have been haunting him since that dreadful day when he couldn't save his sister. They were so close and so connected. They had the brother and sister bond that all siblings wished they had. When she called out to him to save her life, he was dragged away so helplessly. It made Hayley shed one little tear for the sweet girl who didn't get to live the life she wanted to live. Part of her wished that Esther was telling the truth. If she was alive, and survived the fire, then that means Grace must have survived too. However, Esther was a powerful, so it must've been easy for her to escape without her daughter. Esther could have been using that plot to strike a reaction out of Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus. One thing did stick with Hayley after seeing all of that. She hoped that no matter what happened to her, Grace found her perfect place.


	3. Chapter 3: Sister

Rebekah didn't have much to think about in the recent days during her stay in New Orleans. Of course there was the drama to think about with Marcel, but it seemed to petty lately. They had been going around in circles for years and they were back in the same place they were all those years ago. It wasn't even anything to get upset over anymore. There were more important things to contemplate, like how can she maintain the peace that has settled in the city without Nik and Elijah cutting each other's throats out. Elijah had seemed to tense during the last few days that it worried her slightly.

"Hello Rebekah."

She stopped in her walk suddenly, nearly tripping over her heels, as she saw what was in front of her.

"Mother?" Rebekah gasped, "I-I thought... I thought you were dead."

"Your reaction was much more predictable than Elijah's," Esther laughed, "Can you believe that he immediately told me to get out of his sight?"

"You have to understand, he has his reasons," Rebekah added.

"I suppose he does," she shrugged, "He assumed I was coming to take down his entire kingdom and everything he loved. It's so sad how quickly he jumped to that conclusion. I simply came to talk of a deal, which I will later use to his disadvantage. But it's not like you care whether or not he or Niklaus are sitting on a throne, right?"

"How did you survive that fire?" she interrupted, "We all saw you perish in it along with... with-."

"Graceanne?" Esther said, knowing the name was unspeakable to them since the disaster, "Contrary to your belief, she is alive as well."

Rebekah almost stumbled over onto the pavement.

"Gracie...?" she muttered to herself.

* * *

_Rebekah wondered the forest after Henrick died. She often did this to get him off her mind. When Niklaus returned with Henrick, all bloody and lifeless, she never felt more scared and heartbroken in her entire life. She decided to go to the place where Henrick was buried by her mother. It would be nice to pay her respects every now and then. _

_As she came closer to the grave, she saw a little girl there with long black hair with her face in her hands as she cried in front of a landmark made of rocks. Henrick's grave. Rebekah approached the girl and saw the two braids in front of her hair, noticing Grace instantly._

_"Gracie," Rebekah said, kneeling beside her and wrapping her arm around her sister._

_Grace turned her head and cried into her sister's shoulder._

_"I knew something was wrong," she wept, "I was so afraid all night... "_

_"Shh..." Rebekah soothed, leaning her head against hers, "It's okay..."_

_"He was so young..." she sniffed, "He'll never get to see each of us fall in love and have children... he'll never get to grow up and build his own life... we'll never get to tell him how much we love him..."_

_Rebekah looked over at Grace with her tear-stained cheeks. _

_"But he knew..." she assured her younger sister, "Henrick knew how much we loved him. I'm sure of it."_

_Grace looked up at Rebekah and nodded._

* * *

_Rebekah was being dragged out by Finn who had picked her up by her waist and carried her with her feet up off the ground. She heard the screams of Gracie as she was bound to the ground by her own mother._

_"Gracie!" Rebekah shouted as she tried to break free of Finn's embrace._

_"Enough of this, sister," Finn demanded, "Let's go outside!"_

_"No!" she screamed, "She'll die! The spell isn't complete yet!"_

_Finn didn't listen to her and kept dragging her until she met Kol outside. The three of them stood there with Finn's hands still on each of Rebekah's arms. His grip was so secure it could have left bruises on her skin. The structure that had once stood as her home was now gone, and nothing but flames and smoke had taken its place._

_"She'll come out..." Rebekah said, "The spell must have been completed. She can't die now..."_

_She waited and waited for several minutes and watched the flames consume everything and turn it into ash._

_"Grace!" she cried again, this time much louder, even though she knew that her sister couldn't hear her. She fell onto her knees, letting the tears fall out as Niklaus fell to her side, possibly expressing the same sorrow that she was feeling._

* * *

"You finished the spell," Rebekah said to her mother, still standing in front of her, "If you finished it and she survived, then why didn't you come back?"

"Actually," Esther said, beginning to pace around her daughter, "The spell never failed. Graceanne was just being rebellious like all 16 year olds are. When she drank the blood, she just spit it out. The only thing that set the house on fire was a spell I was trying to make to control her behavior."

"You cursed my sister?" Rebekah asked angrily.

"I did her a favor," Esther protested, "Everything she's done over the last thousand years was so much easier because of that spell. After that fire, we escaped and I controlled her; made her mine."

"Why are you telling me this, mother?" Rebekah said, "You could've kept this secret to yourself like you've had for a thousand years. Why tell me?"

Esther stopped her pacing and stood inches away from Rebekah.

"Ask Elijah," Esther hissed, then disappeared within the same second.

After this conversation, there was no one else she could turn to, not even Elijah. Asking Elijah would just start more family drama. She had to get to the root of the problem first and investigate all sides of the situation. There was one person who knew strategy just as well as her brothers. However, she wasn't going to meet him in the compound. There was no way she'd get away with that without being overheard by Elijah and Klaus.

Rebekah stepped into Rousseau's bar and found exactly who she wanted to see sitting at the bar.

"I see you got my message," she said, clicking her heels against the floor on the way to the counter.

"I always get your messages," Marcel said with a glass in his hand, filled with bourbon.

"Isn't it a bit early to start drinking?" Rebekah asked, sitting on the stool next to him.

He shrugged, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere," then took a big gulp of the drink in his hand.

"You're drinking problem aside," she shook her head, then continued, "I saw my mother today."

"Mother?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Klaus told me she was long gone ages ago."

"I thought she was," Rebekah said, "but I just saw her. She walked up to me on the street."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," she nodded, "and there's one more thing I need to tell you... I am not the youngest sister in my family..."

Marcel put his drink down and finally shifted his attention over to Rebekah, "You're kidding."

"I assure you, this is not a joke."

"A sister?" he asked, "Who is she?"

"Graceanne Mikaelson," she said, "My youngest sister. She was even younger than Henrick, about a year or so, as I remember."

"What happened to her? You guys never said a word about her before, not even Klaus said anything to me."

"That's because it's one of my sibling's greatest regrets," she said, looking off into the distance, even though she, herself, was not aware as to what she was exactly looking at, "That, and Henrick's death... Graceanne's was by far the worst, however... because we knew there was something we could do, and we were bested by our own parents cruelty... we watched her die..."

"You don't have to talk about... forget I asked."

"No, no, it's okay... it's about time one of us talked about it instead of keeping it bottled up or forgotten... I don't think she deserves that," Rebekah took a deep breath, "Out of all my siblings, we always paired up and relied on one-another... like we were best friends... our other halves... the ones we would never abandon for anything... Finn always looked after Kol. Thankfully, that one worked itself out in the end... then it was Nik and I, that one should be obvious enough, at least back then, it was much more of a friendly bond... then it was Elijah who watched over Grace like a mother lion watching after her cub."

"So it hit Elijah the hardest," Marcel added.

"Watching her die was the worst thing he ever endured," she said, "He didn't speak for weeks after that day... You know, Gracie was the one who made him the man he is today."

"Noble Elijah?"

"Exactly," she said proudly, "Elijah was all about the battle until my father asked him to stay home and watch Grace to make sure she was safe. I have no idea what she said to him that night, but it changed him. It made him want to be the defender. It's why when he protects, he protects with every fiber of his being. Gracie made him that way... When she was in the fire, do you know who she called for? Elijah. She screamed to him to help her, but my father was too strong for him..."

"Wow," he said, beating his hand against the counter, "After hundreds of years knowing the Mikaelson family, I finally know the biggest family secret... now I really feel like part of the family."

"And then my mother comes and tells me the one thing she knows will take us all down."

"What is that?"

"Grace is not really dead."

Marcel opened his mouth to say something, but then paused and thought it over, "So after all of that depressing nostalgia you just poured out... you're really here to tell me that your sister is alive after all?"

"Strange, I know," Rebekah muttered, "and I don't even know why she said it to me..."

"Obviously she's trying to get into your guys minds," he said confidently, "After all the stuff your mother put you guys through, it's clear as day she's just messing with you."

"So you think she's lying about my sister being alive?"

"I think she's trying to get at you guys in some kind of way," Marcel explained, "Did you ask her why she told you about Grace being alive?"

"She told me to ask Elijah."

"That's it. I think she wants to use this lie to put you guys against each other. You're all going to blame each other for the death of your sister because none of you could stop her. By the time you've all figured out it was REALLY your parents fault she died, not yours, then she would have stolen the empire out of all of our noses."

"You really think that's her plan?" Rebekah asked, "But how could you figure it out so easily? It's never that easy to figure out what my mother has in mind."

"It's the only explanation I can think of."

As Marcel picked up his glass again and started to drink, Rebekah turned her body towards the door, watching the locals walk past without even glancing inside the bar. It was like the world was going at a faster pace than her mind would allow her to go as all of the information ran quickly past her.

Finally, Rebekah stood up and adjusted her shirt with a confident and sinister look, "I think it's time I have a word with my big brother."


	4. Chapter 4: Lines

**AN: Hey guys! Thanks for keeping up the with the story. It means a lot to me! This is my first Originals fic, so I'm glad you guys like it. Some more reviews would seriously make my world and give me more motivation to write something that I know you're going to enjoy**

**Just to clarify about the AU we're in. It's set around the same time as Season 2 is happening, except Hayley was NOT pregnant and she did drink the wolfsbane (it will come up later in the story, I promise). Elijah enjoyed her company and asked her to stay around in order to make peace with the wolves. Everything in 1x13-1x16 happened, minus the pregnancy. Sabine/Celeste still unleashed her wrath. Klaus found out about Mikael and everything happened after that, but Rebekah returned later at the request of Elijah. They don't speak much, but they have somewhat made peace with it. Father Kieran did pass away and Klaus and Cami have spent every day in each other's company since. At Father Kieran's funeral, Hayley did almost die and that further developed Elijah and Hayley's relationship. Elijah and Klaus, allied with Marcel's help, to get revenge with the witches and they won. That is where we are at now. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a review about it or private message me!**

**Thanks guys! **

* * *

Of course, when a sister makes a vow to herself to confront an older brother, she waits until she's got everything sorted out in her mind. She waits until she knows exactly what to say to her older brother so he can't lie himself out of the conversation. So it wasn't until morning when Rebekah decided to confront Elijah about what Esther said to them.

There was a rather harsh knocking on the door of Hayley's bedroom. It sounded like one of them requested either Hayley or Elijah's presence urgently. The sound made Hayley roll over in bed and throw her face into the pillow.

"That would be for you, my dear," Elijah said, "This is your room after all."

Hayley groaned into her pillow.

"Elijah!" Rebekah shouted, "I know you're in there! I would like a word with you!"

Hayley picked up her face from the pillow and grinned at him, "That would be for you, my dear."

Elijah rolled his eyes while chuckling to himself and got out of bed, throwing on one of his robes he left on the chair. Then he opened the door and saw a determined, and already well-dressed, Rebekah standing the door way with the look of anger in her eyes.

"Good morning, sister," Elijah said calmly, "We should speak in the hall, don't you think?"

He closed the door behind him, backing Rebekah further down the hallway.

"Now," he sighed, "What can I help you with?"

"You can explain to me what mother is doing in New Orleans," Rebekah demanded.

Elijah pressed his lips together and looked shamefully at the ground, "I agree, I should have warned you-."

"Warned me?" she scoffed, "What is going on here? Mother comes up to me after a thousand years and says that not only did she survive the fire, but Grace did too! When I asked her why, she told me to ask you. What are you not telling me?"

"I know of all of this," he nodded, "Mother came to me first and told me that Grace is living... she then offered me a deal. She will leave all of us alone if I hand over Niklaus for Gracie."

"Nik?" Rebekah asked, "How on earth is he going to agree to that? There is no way! Not to mention, our mother could be lying to us to put us against each other. That is a very reasonable explanation as to why she decided to drop this on us now, when everything is barely working out."

"I understand your doubts about this," Elijah calmed her, "Mother hasn't exactly been known to be the honest and caring woman people would expect in a mother... but I can't help but wonder if Gracie is really alive. If she is living, that means that mother faked her death, which involves an awful lot of hiding and running. We don't know what she could have been enduring all these years, especially with our mother controlling her."

"Of course you think she's alive and needs to be saved," Rebekah spat, "You'd do anything to save her, you said so yourself when we were younger. You can't see that mother is lying because you so desperately want to believe that she's alive."

"Maybe I do want to believe that..." Elijah confessed, "Perhaps I would want to see her again... I would like to tell her how sorry I am that I couldn't save her... or that I love her. I can't help but think that she felt alone when she was left in that fire and none of us tried to save her... so yes, I would like to see where this deal takes us."

"I would too," Hayley added, wrapping herself in her own robe in front of her bedroom door, then made her way towards Elijah to face Rebekah, "I've seen what she meant to all of you, I think you deserve to see if she's really alive."

"Let's say she's alive," Rebekah sighed, "How in God's name to we get Nik to agree to this trade? If I were him, I wouldn't go with her either."

"Then let's make him think he's the hero," Hayley suggested, "Make him think he's the bravest one out of all of us. Remind him about her life or memories they shared together, something like that. Maybe if he feels guilty about not saving her either, then he'll want to be the first one to step forward and trade himself to save her."

"After all," Elijah added, "Niklaus did have a soft spot for Gracie... as did we all."

"We all know it was impossible to upset with her," Rebekah interjected, "but it's going to be difficult to convince Nik to do this."

"Then I think we need to put this theory to the test," Elijah said with a smug grin on his face, which worried both Rebekah and Hayley.

* * *

Rebekah sat in her room in plain sight, leaving the door wide open as well as the windows, letting the breeze come in and blow the white curtains around like trees bending in the wind. It made her room especially noticeable in the house that day. She was sitting on a stool with a paper on a stand in front of her with a sketch on it. It was Grace, lying in a field of lilacs. As she began to pick up the orange colored pencil, who should walk in but exactly who she wanted to see.

"Hello Nik," Rebekah said without even looking behind her.

"Good morning, sister," Klaus said plainly and almost started to walk past her room, but then noticed the drawing on her paper, "What is that you have there?"

She started to draw something that resembled flames around her body that was lying so peacefully there. Grace's expression was blank and her eyes were wide open, staring at the sky with her arms out stretched on other side of her.

"I was thinking of someone recently," Rebekah said, rubbing in the colors together with her thumb, "Do you like it?"

"That's..." Klaus breathed, "That's Grace..."

"Yes, it is," Rebekah said proudly, still looking at her drawing, "Don't you remember her?

* * *

_"Seven, eight, nine, ten!" a 12 year old Niklaus said as he uncovered his eyes and looked around him only to see an empty forest of dead leaves, "Watch out pigeon! I'm coming to find you!"_

_He wondered the forest, looking behind every thick tree and under piles of leaves. After several minutes, he found himself with no luck. He hoped that she didn't decide to hide near the roaring river. Anyone in his family knew how dangerous that would be._

_"Where are you, Grace?" he shouted to the air._

_"Here I come!" Grace giggled, and jumped off the branch of the tree, pushing the both of them into a pile of leaves, laughing. She was only 5 years old and so full of life and happiness, "I bet I scared you Niklaus."_

_"Of course not, pigeon," he said, picking her up and shaking the leaves off her._

_"You keep calling me pigeon!" she protested, "Why do you call me pigeon, Niklaus?"_

_"Because you like to fly," he said, picking her up again and spinning her around as if she could truly fly._

_After the laughing child was set on her feet, she tugged at her older brother's leg, "but if I could fly, then you should call me a dove instead of a pigeon."_

_"You see, that's where you're wrong," Niklaus said, kneeling in front of his sister, "I'd call you dove if you were pretty."  
_

_Grace gasped and charged herself forward towards him, causing him to land amongst the leaves as they covered him entirely. _

_"I will get you for that, little one," he said, picking himself up and causing Grace to run away from him. _

_The direction that Grace was run towards was the river, but she was running with her back facing it, so she couldn't see that she was going to fall directly into it. She was a child, she just wanted to run and laugh and play without anything bad happening to her. There was no danger in her world, especially at 5 years old. Niklaus was dusting the leaves off his clothes, so of course he didn't notice Grace heading towards the river until she was seconds from falling in._

_"Grace!" Niklaus shouted, but it was too late. Grace tripped over a root and fell into the river with a scream._

_"Niklaus!" she cried, the water being far too deep for her to stand. She was just a little girl, so she wasn't as gifted a swimmer as her older siblings were. _

_This was all his fault, he thought to himself. He knew that his father already hated him. Drowning his youngest sister would be the end of him, not just to his father, but to himself. He would never forgive himself if Gracie ever perished this way. It was time to be the brave one, instead of Elijah or Finn. _

_"Don't worry! I'm coming to get you," he said, looking at his surroundings for something she could grab that he could pull her out with._

_The water started to cover her mouth as she cried out, so all Niklaus could hear was, "Klaus!" as her small scream cried out to him to help her._

_He turned around and decided to jump into the river that all of his family members feared._

_"Grace!" he said, reaching out his hand towards her, "Take my hand!"_

_Grace pushed herself just a little bit and grabbed onto her hand and he pulled her towards him, hugging her close to him as he swam towards the land._

_"Here," he said, breathlessly, pushing her up onto the land._

_Niklaus's hand slipped as he tried to pull him out of the water and Grace stopped, grabbing his hand and holding it there while he pulled himself up._

* * *

"Yes..." Klaus said quietly, "I remember her."

He walked into her room and examined the drawing of Grace's full body, lying in a field of lilacs that were all on fire. The drawing was very centered with a lot of blank space around it.

"If I were you," he said, "I'd draw dying trees around this scene... she loved to climb trees as a child."

"Yes, that she did," Rebekah said softly, "She used to claim that she could fly."

"Well, she was a talented liar, that girl," he chuckled, "She would lie to me all the time... my strong hearing couldn't even hear a heartbeat change whenever she lied... Makes me think how well she would have done with our little group all these years."

"She would've been more powerful than all of us," she laughed, "She had a way of making everyone love her. No one truly hated her in our family... not even father..."

"No," Klaus nodded, "Not even Mikael hated her.. who could? It was impossible. I couldn't... she was the only one who had the ability to save me..."

Klaus figured that he had enough revealing his weakest feelings to Rebekah, after all, they weren't exactly in the kind of relationship where they could share feelings like that. The things he remembered about Grace were the things that he could never share with anyone. Nobody could ever know that he almost lost Grace before he actually lost Henrick. Of course, no one loved her more than Elijah, but he certainly didn't have a soft spot for just anyone. Grace was the only person who broke through that barrier with her innocence, her optimism, and her devilish habits at the same time. He couldn't handle the memories for one more second, so he started to retreat out the door.

"Nik," Rebekah called before he left, "If you could have saved her... would you?"

He waited before he built up all of his pride and raised his chest up higher in the air with a deep breath.

"Of course," he said, then marched out of the room before he could make himself any weaker than he was becoming.

Only Grace could make him this way, he thought, only Grace.


	5. Chapter 5: Tame

_It was crumbling. The old wood that held up the roof over their heads was starting to get weaker as it turned to ash. He had heard the voices of Rebekah and Elijah, panicking and crying out to her as Mikael and Finn tried to stop them. There stood Niklaus, watching all of it happen instead of actually getting up and doing something about it. How could he? It was like the whole thing was a dream, after all. As he watched, helplessly, as his sister perished in a fire, he felt so weak that he couldn't move._

_"Elijah!" he heard her tiny voice scream as Mikael dragged Elijah away from the burning house._

_Of course it was Elijah she called upon in her hour of need. When Grace was cowering in the house by herself, it was Niklaus who had run astray with Henrick, worrying her in the first place. Elijah was there to comfort her. After Henrick died, it was Rebekah who sat in front of his grave with her, and it was Elijah who held her when she slept because she was afraid of what might come after her in the night. So of course Grace called for Elijah as the flames surrounded her. Niklaus had saved her from drowning in the river, and yet she did not call for him. Niklaus had accepted all of her hopes and desires. Niklaus was seen as a bastard son to his father and yet Grace saw him for the human being he could be, rather than what other people saw him as. Still, it was Elijah's name she continued to call out in the dark._

_The house completely fell on top of what was left of Grace and Esther. The screaming stopped and so did his will to stand tall and confident. Graceanne Mikaelson was dead. He didn't want to believe it, but as the flames turned into smoke and no one emerged from the wreckage, it became more and more real. Graceanne Mikaelson was dead. She was dead and she was not immortal. She was not coming back. The poor little girl. She had barely begun to live her life and now she was dead, left to crumble amongst the ashes of her childhood home. Niklaus would never forgive himself from that moment on, because he had never truly felt like a coward until that very moment, when he did nothing to save his youngest sister from a terrible death. All that remained was the echo of her scream._

* * *

Klaus gasped as he rose up from the bed, feeling the confinement of the sheets weighing him down like a tremendous burden on his shoulders. He kicked the sheets off like he was breaking free from a prison, then got up and marched towards his bathroom. As he looked in the mirror, he saw glimpses of the man he used to be before that fire. He saw himself with innocence in his eye and the long blonde hair hanging at his cheeks, but he shook his head several times, trying to get the image out of his head.

He quickly turned on the cold water, letting the water run into the sink while he stared at the impact the water made on the white sink. He then gathered his hands underneath the water and threw it in his face, causing a chill to run down his body and his face muscles to loosen up and breathe. Once he looked up into the mirror, not only did he see his normal face, but he saw something behind him. There was a woman standing behind him. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt underneath a blue frock with a dusty brown belt just above the curves of her waist.

The woman he saw in the mirror would be an exquisite vision if only her dress weren't so dirty and torn as if it had been buried in the ground for centuries. Her sleeves were cut in various places and looked as though they had been burned. Her skin looked charred in some places and her hair was in knots, standing on top of her head as if fell in front of her red eyes. He gasped once the woman walked close to him to realize that this was no woman at all. This was a girl.

"_You didn't save me, Niklaus_," the ghost of Graceanne shouted, an echo following her.

"I was forced not to," Klaus explained.

"_Then you are weak!_" she shouted, "_Perhaps father was right all this time... we helped each other out of the river and then it was just 'too hard' to save me from the fire?_"

"Gracie-."

Just then, the vision screamed, causing the mirror to crack and break, making the entire house shake around him. He fell to the ground just below the sink, clutching his heart as the vibrations of the screamed seemed to effect it.

The vision of Grace came ghosting over to him, her feet not even touching the ground. She knelt in front of him and placed her hand on his knee.

"_I could have saved you... had you saved me,_" she whispered, "_Isn't that what we do? We save each other?_"_  
_

Klaus took one of the shards of glass in his hand and threw it towards the wall. As he heard the sound of the glass breaking against the tiles of the bathroom wall, his image shifted and he was standing in front of the mirror again as if nothing had happened. He looked behind him and didn't see any ghosts in blue frocks flying around him, so he threw some more cold water in his face, but did not look back up into the mirror.

From a distance, just outside Klaus's bedroom, Davina lowered her hand and nodded proudly before skipping back down the stairs where Marcel and Elijah were waiting.

"It's done," she reported, "The hallucination should occur only a few more times today."

"Perfect," Marcel said, approaching her and patting her shoulder, "Thank you, Davina. You know, you really didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to," she assured him, "If there is someone my age who is in trouble and possibly being held captive, I want to do everything I can to help them. It's a terrible thing, you know... being taken prisoner... besides, after all Klaus has done, someone should torture him every now and then."

"You sound exactly like my sister," Elijah chuckled, then cleared his throat, "I should tell you that I'm very comfortable with this arrangement you've come up with, Marcel. Surely there must be another way to guilt him into agreeing with our mother's deal."

"Look, I know that this particular memory is a hard one to swallow," Marcel comforted him, "but think about it, it's your brother Klaus. Sometimes it takes a little more than an electric shock or exposure to sun to get his blood pulsing. You gotta hit him where it hurts."

"For your sake..." he said quietly, "For his, for mine, and for my sister's sake... I hope this plan of yours works..."

"It will," Marcel said proudly.

"You must hope and pray that you end up right," Elijah threatened, "If my brother is tortured for nothing and my sister remains captive... there will be hell to pay, I can assure you that."

"Then I'm lucky that this plan will work," Marcel grinned, "Now it's time for phase 2."

"Why are you helping us?" Elijah asked suddenly, readjusting his standing position with his hands in his pockets, "You couldn't possibly understand the grief, loss, and heartache that my brother, sister, and I are suffering from this and yet you insist on your own plan to try and save her, yet you've never even seen her face. Why?"

Marcel sighed and put his hand on the small of Davina's back, urging her closer to him. "Because I know what it's like to have someone so close to you in captivity," he replied, "Granted, it's different when your'e the one keeping her locked up, but still... it's not easy... the way you protected Grace is the same way I protect Davina now... We're not so different, you and I..."

Elijah looked from Davina to Marcel as she looked at him like a proud daughter to her father. The way she immediately attached herself to him reminded him of the night during the battle in the house, how he soothed his little sister to sleep by telling her to close her eyes and find her perfect place. Except now he knew a perfect place for her, and it didn't exist in the realms of her mind. It was right where he stood, within the barriers of the compound amongst her brothers and sister. There truly was no safer place at the moment. Even if he doubted Marcel's plan, given the past struggle for power between the two of them and Klaus, he loved Grace enough to at least see it through. Any shot at getting her back was better than no shot at all.

So he agreed to continue with phase 2 of Marcel's plan; talk to Klaus and inform him of what Esther has told both he and Rebekah. Elijah, however, tweaked the plan in his mind just a tad before he approached his younger brother.

"Niklaus," Elijah said, entering his room.

"Has my big brother finally decided to grace me with is presence?" Klaus asked with a grin as he was standing in front of a blank canvas with his smock and paints in his hand and his hand about to grace the emptiness with his color.

"Only to tell you something rather important," Elijah took a few steps into his bedroom where he stood, "After that, I will leave you to your coloring."

Klaus grinned and rolled his eyes at his brother's humor, but didn't turn around, "What is it that you wish to tell me? I assure you, I've had a long enough day as it is, so please, go on with it."

"Fine," Elijah cleared his throat, "I think it's important for you to know that our mother has visited us within the last week."

Klaus didn't move. "Impossible."

"Rebekah and I thought so too," the eldest brother explained, "but she is very much alive and well. Not only did she come with that bit of news, but she also told us that someone else is alive as well... Grace."

Out of an impulse, Klaus dashed his paintbrush against the canvas; a strike of red against what used to be seemingly empty. "Also impossible."

"That's what we believed," Elijah nodded, "but if mother is alive, there is no telling what could have happened to Gracie that night, whether she died instantly, some time after, or is still alive to this day."

Klaus finally turned around, "So now what happens?"

"Mother has arranged a meeting for tomorrow afternoon. I was hoping you'd join us for the reunion."

"Will she be-."

"We don't know," Elijah answered, "There is no possible way of knowing whether or not... she... will be in attendance, but all we can do is hope."

Klaus nodded, then moved his arm upwards so his index finger pointed towards the entrance to his room, "I will join you for this meeting of yours... now leave me in peace. I need to think."

Elijah nodded back and left the room. The second the door closed, Klaus rid himself of his smock and paint, jumping out of his window, from his fire escape, and landing directly in the alley way directly below. There was a blonde bartender waiting there, who gasped when she heard the thump of Klaus's feet behind her.

"You scared me!" Camille laughed.

"I didn't mean to scare you, love," he smiled, kissing her cheek, "How long are you on a break?"

"Just for 20 minutes," she said, brushing her hair back behind her ear, then hugging him instantly, "I wish we didn't have to meet in a place like this for my free time. Maybe we could just go out somewhere... just for a little bit?"

Klaus smiled at her hopeful eyes that were just so beautifully human, but he sighed at her as well, "Sorry, darling... you know the rules," Cami gave an annoying sight and all of the light left her face. Klaus panicked, "I truly am sorry. I told you what would happen before you chose to fall in love with me. Anyone who knows of my dalliances are destined for a painful and cruel end."

"I wish it wasn't that way," she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Dearest Cami," he whispered, pulling her to his chest and stroking her hair, but she wasn't giving in and wrapping her arms around him as usual when he soothed her, so he stepped back from her, "Is everything all right?"

"No, actually," she said sternly, "Klaus, I didn't ask for any of this. Yes, I love you, but I'm not even sure I made the right decision at the right time... I want to be with someone who is proud to have me with them."

"But I am proud to have you," he insisted, resting his hands on his shoulders.

"Proud enough to tell your siblings about me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, which made him step back again, "That's what I thought... You are so protective of your reputation and your name that you've blamed the secrecy of our relationship on protecting me instead. You and I both know what's really going on here, and I just don't think you're ready for a real relationship."

"Is this your way of telling me to leave you alone?" he asked quietly.

"This is my way of telling you to leave me alone for a while," she answered confidently, "Just until you're ready to hold my hand on the street without fearing my death... I'm sorry, Klaus, but you're a bad guy. You wouldn't be afraid of anything if you weren't. When you've figured out how to not be a bad guy, then we'll see what happens."

"Cami-."

She turned around, her golden blonde locks flowing against her back as she walked away from him. He had been rejected by women before, but it had only hurt this much twice in his lifetime, this being one of those times. Klaus hadn't betrayed anyone recently, as far as he could remember. He hadn't killed anyone without a good reason, and he hadn't angered anyone in ages. Yet, he still feared how people would look at him. Perhaps Cami was right, he thought. Perhaps it was time for a change in his life, starting with this meeting coming up the next day. If he was going to start changing his ways in order to be happier, he would start by doing whatever it takes to get Grace back in the warm and comforting arms of Elijah. He was going to help get her back and he was going to be a hero to his family.

So the next morning, Klaus walked up to Marcel and demanded that he and Davina be present at the meeting with his mother for backup. Hayley had declared she was going to stand by Elijah's side as well. Rebekah wasn't going to miss this for the world, especially if Marcel's plan seemed to be working. They waited in the courtyard, looking over their shoulders and watching each other's backs for anything that could sneak up on them. Esther wasn't exactly a person who could be trusted to make a quiet entrance.

"Looking for me?" Esther asked, standing there in all her glory with two henchman by her side.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Esther Mikaelson... our mother," Elijah stepped back and gave Marcel, Davina, and Hayley a good look at her.

"Charmed, I'm sure," the woman said with a grin, "Now, shall we get on with it?"

"Show her to me," Elijah demanded, "Surely you brought her with you."

Esther scoffed, "Of course I didn't! I want my end of the bargain first," she looked over Elijah's shoulder and smiled at her bastard son, "Klaus..."

He looked at her with fear striking in his eyes. He could only ever truly fear two people in this entire world; his parents. When his mother looked at her with intention underneath her glare, it sent a chill down his spine.

"Me?" he whispered.

"Yes you," Esther rolled her eyes, "Take your sister's place and I will return her here safely."

There was complete silence as everyone looked at Klaus.

"Is it true then?" Klaus asked, stepping next to Elijah, "That my youngest sister is alive? And that you've kept the one thing that has haunted us for a thousand years as your own little secret."

"You were always the dramatic one, weren't you, Niklaus?" Esther laughed, "I always loved that about you. You definitely take after my side of the family."

"Is it true?" Klaus spat.

Esther paused and sighed, "I guess you'll never know if you don't complete the deal."

"Nik..." Rebekah said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Everyone had expected him to burst into anger and frustration. Even Klaus himself knew that was what they were thinking. Of course the great and powerful Klaus Mikaelson would never turn himself into the enemy for anyone. That was because all he cared about was himself. He remembered the whispers along the streets of this town that he had overheard with his strong hearing. Klaus Mikaelson was selfish and unforgivable. What would Grace say about him now? Would she even look at him the same way if she knew how he had acted all these years?

"It's alright," he said calmly, placing his hand upon his eldest sister's, "As you wish, mother."

As he stepped forward towards his mother and her henchman, he started to wonder if this would be the thing that would finally give honor to his name, that would make Cami believe that he could do something good and that he could be trusted. Maybe if Grace knows what he gave up for her, she will love him just the same. He did tell Rebekah he would do anything to save her again, and now he can finally keep his word.

"That was surprisingly easy," Esther shrugged, then placed her hand on her son's shoulder, disappearing in a cloud of smoke moments later, leaving nothing but emptiness and foggy air in the courtyard.

Davina had at least expected a replacement spell that would leave Grace in Esther's place, but nothing happened. It was just empty. It didn't really surprise anyone that Esther was lying, and yet they had built up just enough hope that Grace was alive to be disappointed when she didn't show up. Perhaps she really was gone, they thought. They all had lost hope, expect for Elijah, of course. He stood there, looking at the spot where he thought Grace would appear.

"Elijah..." Rebekah walked closer to him. He expected her to say something about how his mother fooled them all and they should all just walk away while they still had the chance. However, Elijah held up his hand, declaring that he didn't want to hear it from her today.

Another cloud of smoke suddenly appeared from from the ground and grew very tall in a large amount. It kept growing and growing until it reached the ceiling and then it stopped and vanished. In its place, a girl stood there who looked completely underdressed in a gray rag, which looked to have been white once before. Her hair was in knots on top of her head. She was looking at the ground, as if it had just disappeared in front of her and she was confused as to how she was still standing. When the poor girl finally lifted her head up, what she saw made her gasp.

The sound of her voice was like broken bells that hadn't had moved in years. All she did was gasp and sigh as she took in the sight around her, especially in front of her. She was certainly surprise to see who was standing in front of her, looking as though they had seen a ghost. The blonde one, with her eyes popping out of her head, had an arm on the one with the suit on. He looked like he was about to go weak at the knees and fall in front of everyone.

"R-Rebekah...?" the girl asked the blonde, then looked to the man in the suit, "Elijah..."

Rebekah and Elijah, indeed, could not believe it. They heard what they're mother said, and yet, it hadn't seemed real until right now.

They both let their jaws fall open as the name fell off their tongue in a soft whisper.

"Grace..."


	6. Chapter 6: After

Nobody made the first move towards the frightened Grace Mikaelson. Who could? Especially since they were all waiting for Elijah to say, or do, something. After several moments of silence, the three siblings just staring at each other, watching the shock in each other's eyes, Elijah finally took a step forward, causing Grace to shake just a little bit, but he proceeded any way.

His next step forward, and hand cautiously reached out towards her, gave her the confidence to step forward as well. It was like stepping away from the worlds they previously knew and entering into this brand new reality where their greatest fear no longer haunted them.

"Can it truly be you, lilac?" Elijah asked slowly and quietly.

Grace nodded as she brought her feet together and stood still in front of him, waiting for him to hit her or shake her and scold her for scaring him like that and never returning after all these years. The way she had been treated since that night, she was expecting a punishment. It was always the easier thing to assume. However, it shocked her when he jolted forward and wrapped his arms around her, his right arm pushing holding her at her back while he cradled her head with his left hand.

"I thought I had lost you forever," he cried, then kissed her knotty hair that smelled heavily of dirt.

"As did I," she responded, hugging him tightly in return, "I spent all these years thinking you were all dead."

"It appears our mother has deceived us both," Elijah said, releasing her from the hug and holding her face in his hands, "but that does not matter now. We are all together again-." Elijah's eyes fell to her neck, where a black rope hung that was tied to a metal carving of a flower, "Where did you find that? A thief took it from my bag in Bulgaria nearly 700 years ago. It was all I had left of you besides the memories."

"Mother gave it to me," Grace shrugged, "You would not believe what I've been through all this time."

"Well we'd love to hear about," Rebekah added.

Grace looked over Rebekah's shoulder and smiled brightly at her older sister.

"Dearest sister," she gasped, running towards her and hugging her tightly. Rebekah was a little taken aback at the sudden affection, but still hugged her back.

"Now that you've returned to us, I'm going to fix your hair and you are going to be the beautiful flower you have always been," Rebekah laughed, pushing the knotty hair of her sister's face.

"Rebekah, why don't you take our sister upstairs and make her feel more comfortable," he gestured to his sister, then looked at Marcel, Davina, and Hayley, "I will introduce you all to my sister once she feels rested in a place where she is safe. Thank you for being by our side during this time."

Marcel and Davina nodded before he lead her up the stairs and back inside the house. Hayley, however, came towards Elijah, subtly kissed his cheek and gave him a small smile before she headed back towards the entrance to her room.

Hours after Rebekah had shown Grace her new room, Elijah knocked on her door, expecting her to be sound asleep and comfortable in her bed, however, she was underneath the covers, sitting up in the bed and writing in a small book that was completely torn up and was woven together by an old piece of string.

"You didn't sleep?" Elijah asked, walking into the room.

"I spent the last five years in a cave with nothing but my own thoughts," Grace shrugged, "I've had plenty of rest. What I really just needed to get settled, that's all."

"And you still have that old thing," he chuckled, looking at the journal that he hadn't seen for thousands of years.

"I'm not even half-way through it," she said, flipping back through the dusty pages, "Let's just say that mother kept a dagger close by and when it wasn't, that's usually when I had to chance to start writing again."

Elijah sat on the side of her bed and opened his arms to her, and she didn't hesitate to fall into the warm and comforting embrace of her loving brother. This hug lasted much longer than it did in the courtyard. It was really a chance for them to believe that this really was happening, that they were both alive and back with each other again. Watching her father drag Elijah away was one of the most heartbreaking things that she had ever witnessed, and thinking that the fire had spread and killed them as well was an even worse thought to imagine. Elijah had always remembered the fire that had taken Gracie away from him. It was a memory that had haunted him for a thousand years. At least now, he finally made peace with it.

"Elijah," Grace whispered, "I never thought I'd see you again... the necklace was all I had left of you."

He let go of the hug as she readjusted herself back into a comfortable position on her bed.

"Tell me," he sighed, "What have you been up to over the last several hundred years?"

Gracie chuckled, "That's an incredibly long story."

"We're immortal. We have all the time in the world."

She gave her brother a half-grin, then started on her story. "After the fire in the woods, mother gave me a cup of blood to consume. Then she told me that none of you had survived the fire and we were lucky enough to escape in time. She gave me this daylight ring, and then she told me we had to run. We got on a ship that took us to Denmark first. It was so strange, because there were nights during our time there when I had nightmares about killing innocent people... the scariest part was that I loved it. It wasn't for my personal gain, but just for the fun of killing. These nightmares came briefly every night. By the year 1200, mother had reigned over a small faction of Denmark... I got to be a princess for a little while... but I never left the castle. I was always locked in a room, my daylight ring taken away from me until mother let me out, which was very rare. After some time, the nightmares got worse and worse with each passing night. I finally had enough of it and escaped with nothing but the clothes on my back and my daylight ring. I had heard of a witch in Bulgaria who could help me figure out what these dreams meant, so that's where I was headed. As I finally made it past the border of Denmark, and into Germany, I met someone there."

* * *

_There was the sound of twigs breaking amongst the silence of the deep woods. Grace didn't truly expect anyone friendly to come from this part of the woods, especially so near the Dane line. Perhaps an intruder or an invader was coming her way, so she hid behind a tree and grabbed the nearest rock she could find at her feet. She raised it in her hand and threw herself from behind the tree._

_"Hey!" a man yelled with a wagon behind him that was being pulled by the horse he was guiding, "What do you think you're doing!?"_

_Grace paused, unable to move, mostly because she wasn't quite ready to disarm herself yet._

_"A-Aren't you a thief? A ruffian? You've come to fetch me, haven't you?" she asked._

_"Pardon me, miss, but I don't even know who you are," he said, "I'm just a peasant trying to get home to his family in Bulgaria."_

_"Bulgaria?" Grace gasped, dropping the rock, "That is my destination as well. Does this mean I'm on the right path then?"_

_"Yes," he nodded, "Why? Do you think you're lost?"_

_"Oh no, not at all," she said confidently, then sighed and chuckled, "Alright, maybe a little bit."_

_The man looked ahead of him, then at his horse, then at the wagon behind him, "I'll make you a deal, lass. You seem like one of those women who can fight for themselves. If you help keep me safe from the real ruffians and thugs out there, then I'll be your travel guide to Bulgaria."_

_"Do you mean that?" Grace asked, "But I am just a strange you met in the woods. I tried to hit you with a rock a few moments ago."_

_"Then I guess you're lucky that I'm a compassionate person," he shrugged._

_"That's very kind of you," she smiled, "Thank you..."_

_"The name's Dimitri," he said, holding out his hand to her, "Shall I be knowing the name of my travel companion? Or is that too personal for you?"_

_She chuckled and shook his hand, "I'm Grace."_

_By the time night fell, there was enough material in the wagon to make camp and a small fire. Dimitri had roasted a few pieces of meat over the fire. _

_"I thought running away was the answer," Dimitri said, finishing his story about his grand adventures of leaving home, "but after I started seeing all of the killings going on in Denmark, I knew where I truly belonged. Now I'm returning to Bulgaria, back to my family. I want to tell them I'm sorry for leaving them in the first place."_

_"That sounds wonderful," Grace sighed._

_"It does, if they're happy to see me," he shrugged._

_"Of course they will be happy to see you," she insisted, "you're their family... if anything, I envy you, Dimitri. All of my family is dead."_

_"That's terrible," Dimitri sighed, rubbing his hand on her back, "How?"_

_"A fire," she said, looking sadly into the fire pit, "I didn't even get to say goodbye... it happened so long ago, and yet I still remember that day so well."_

_"I think you should remember the good things, instead of how they died," Dimitri suggested._

_"Oh I do," she nodded, "What I wouldn't do to play hide and seek with my brother Niklaus, to have my sister Rebekah braid my hair just before the sun would come out, to hug Henrick one more time, to chase Kol up and down every hill, to pester Finn by putting flowers in his hair... or to have Elijah tell me stories in the night so I wouldn't be afraid..."_

_"Do you have anything to remember them by?" he asked, "A trinket of some sort?"_

_"I could have," she sighed, "but it all perished in the fire. There was a necklace. It was made by Elijah. He carved it into a flower all by himself. My brother, Niklaus, was terribly addicted to wood carving. He carved a pigeon for me once because he used to call me that. I was fond of standing on top of tree branches and falling. I thought I could fly, but they were always there to catch me..."_

_"I, for one, am glad you remember your family so fondly," he said, putting his hand from her back to her knee._

_"I'm glad too," she nodded, looking up at him, "My brother, Elijah, once said that if we close our eyes, we can imagine our perfect place. I hope you find your place, Dimitri."_

_"Thank you, Grace," he smiled, "I hope you find yours as well."_

_Weeks had passed and they went through Germany, Poland, and Romania together. Bulgaria was getting closer and closer and it made them both upset that their journey was almost coming to an end. They could see the border of Bulgaria from where they decided to make camp. _

_"I've grown fond of this time with you," Dimitri said, bringing in the logs of firewood he had cut himself while Grace set up the tent._

_"As have I," she said with a blush, "I do wish we didn't have to part ways after our journey is through."_

_Grace remembered all of the fun times they had together. Stopping at pubs, dodging ruffians, trying to travel through rivers. More importantly, though, Grace feared she was falling in love with Dimitri since they made it out of Germany. Grace had told him what she was, that she was immortal and she was seeking a witch to cure her of these nightmares. He had accepted it and his view of her didn't change after that day. He had still cared for her, even after he knew what she was. She still admired him for having the bravest heart of the lion with the gentle beat of a horse, strong, protective, and sweet. _

_"We don't have to part ways, you know," he suggested, "Perhaps, once you've found this witch of yours to cure these nightmares, you can stay with me and my family... if you'd like."_

_"Stay with you?" she asked, leaving her work on the tent behind her and stepping towards him, "Will your family approve?"_

_"I hope they will," he nodded, "It would be nice to not have to leave you after all this time."_

_"That would be nice," she said hopefully._

_"Then it's decided," Dimitri declared, "After you see the witch, you shall stay with me."_

_"It is only a few days journey to the witch, I shall return to you in 1 week's time."_

_"And then we shall be married."  
_

_Grace opened her mouth to say something, but she paused in shock and delight. "Married?"_

_"Yes..." He didn't mean for that to be said aloud. It was just a fantasy in his mind. However, now that he said it, he was glad that he did. "Gracie, I have fallen in love with you. This time I've shared with you has been the most glorious time of my life and I wish to spend the rest of it with you by my side."_

_"But Dimitri," Grace hesitated, "You know what I am... I'm immortal. I will not grow old and have children with you. I will stay exactly as I am for all eternity."  
_

_"Then make me like you," he begged, "Change me into what you are and let us live together forever."  
_

_"You mean that?" she asked happily._

_"Of course I do!" he cheered, "My family and I shall celebrate your return with a wedding ceremony. Just you and I. Then on our honeymoon, you shall make me like you."_

_"Oh Dimitri, you would sacrifice your humanity just to be with me..." she said lovingly, "How could I not marry you now?"  
_

_"Is that a yes?" he asked, getting down onto one knee._

_"Yes!" she cried, as he got up and spun her around._

_As he set her on her feet, he pressed his forehead to hers and finally gave Grace something that was only a distant dream, something that she thought she would wait hundreds of years for. Her first kiss. _

* * *

"After that night," Grace continued, "We agreed we would meet at his house after 7 days. I ran to the witch's den. There, she told me that our mother put a hex on me. With one spell, she could turn me into her own personal ripper without me even knowing. The spell was too powerful for the witch to break, so she changed it instead. She made it possible so I could be conscience of what was happening while I was under her control. At least that stopped the nightmares, but what happened next was horrifying..."

* * *

_Grace didn't walk back to the place where Dimitri lived. She ran. Every moment she could, she ran, feeling her heart weighing her to the place where her true love and his family were waiting. She was to be a married woman by sundown and she couldn't wait a moment longer. She wanted to fly. She ran so fast, she almost could float right off the ground with the combined speed and happiness. _

_When she reached the village where he lived, she burst the door open to Dimitri's house with a big smile on her face. _

_"Here comes the bride..."_

_Esther was standing inside of the house amongst a 4 dead people surrounding the floor. There was a woman, a man, a little boy, and a little girl, all lying on the ground, resting in their own blood. It was the exact opposite of what she had expected, and it was ten times more frightening when she saw Esther holding a knife to Dimitri's throat. _

_"Mother..." she gasped, "What have you done!?"_

_"This is what you get for leaving me!" Esther scolded, pointing to the ground, "And this is what you get for falling in love..." she pushed Dimitri towards her and he fell into her arms._

_"Grace?" he whispered._

_"Yes, I'm here," Grace whispered back, placing her hands on his cheeks, "I am so sorry about your family..."_

_Dimitri looked behind him and saw them, all lying there, completely motionless. He hugged Grace tightly and cried into her shoulder as she hugged him back._

_"It'll be okay..." she said, rubbing his back, "We can still be together. We can be married... I love you, Dimitri."_

_"And I love you," he cried, his hands grasping her tiny figure for dear life._

_"Unfortunately," Esther interjected, "Life isn't always that easy. Grace? Feed."_

_The word 'Feed' sent a shot of warmth up her spine. That must have been what triggered the spell that turned her into her mother's slave. _

_"No..." she protested, "No, no, no..."_

_She tried to fight it as hard as she could, but the magic from her mother was the most powerful of all. Not even the witch who saved her mind from being erased could break the spell. She didn't want to do this, but her body was in control now instead of her mind. Esther grinned as Grace sank her teeth into Dimitri, her true love, and drank every last drop of his blood until he turned pale and cold. He fell onto the ground, completely dead and motionless, just like his family._

_"Thank you for your services," Esther said, approaching her daughter and grabbing onto her shoulders, waiting for Grace to come out of the trance._

_Once she did, she looked at the man she just killed; the man she loved. She had never cried so hard in her life. _

* * *

"I cried for Dimitri," she said morbidly, "I cried for his innocent family. Most of all, I cried because that was the last hope I had of finding a life I deserved. I remember killing Dimitri. I remember what his his hands felt like against my sides as he cried out in pain. It is the worst memory I have... Mother took away my freedom after that."

"Stop," Elijah demanded quietly, "You do not need to tell me any more."

"It's okay," she nodded, "I want to continue."

Elijah relaxed a little bit, then motioned for her to continue her story.

"Mother gave me the necklace that night," she explained, touching the trinket on her neck, "She said she found it in the pocket of some thief. She also said it was a symbol that I could never love anyone the way I loved my family. That they were the only ones who could ever love me. It made things easier when she obtained a dagger and started putting me to sleep for decades, only to wake me up for a few nights at a time. Whenever she woke me up, it was to kill someone. I hadn't the slightest idea why. I didn't ask either. The more I cooperated, the more I got to see of the outside world. The most I ever got to see was the 1920's of New York City."

"Ah, New York City," Elijah reminisced, "That was my favorite as well."

Gracie chuckled, then continued, "It was 1923. Everyone told my mother that it was the best place to be, so she let me out for several days. I drank, made friends, laughed for hours and hours... I even went to my first baseball game there. I also met a delivery boy there... Max." She started to blush at the memory of him, "We went out for drinks and we hit it off right away... I didn't get too attached, though. I knew better. Mother kept pushing me into meetings with other witches that I ended up killing anyway, so it's not like I had a lot of time to myself. But that's when I started getting curious about what she was hiding. She kept saying something about a Renouveau."

"Renewal," Elijah translated.

"Exactly. She wants something like that, but I never quite figured it out. She caught me snooping through her things and had me daggered before sundown. I didn't wake up again until the 1980's." She shuddered. "By far my least favorite time period to be in. Nothing eventful happened except for the usual meet, greet, and kill our mother enjoys so much. However, that was the time when I started to realize that she never really cared for me as a daughter, but rather, a slave to use for her own personal gain..."

"I saw Max again. He was in his old age and he said he had seen me before. I passed it off as the granddaughter of the woman he knew, then continued on my way. I was asleep again until 2009. I finally went against mother and her wishes. Unfortunately, she thought putting me to sleep again would be the easy way out, so she locked me in a cage for 5 years."

"And that's when she released you," Elijah finished.

"Yes," she confirmed, "After all the time in the cell, seeing my family alive again was exactly what I needed."

"Well, unfortunately, what you see is what you get," Elijah said, "Rebekah is doing well here, as well as I am. However, Finn died two years ago and Kol was killed by a hunter a little over a year ago."

"Oh my..." she gasped, holding her hands to her mouth.

"It was a lot to swallow myself," Elijah comforted her by rubbing his hand on her shoulder, "Meanwhile, our father has passed as well, although, people keep finding ways to resurrect him all the time. Plus, he likes to torture us when he returns, so it's not really that great of a loss."

"And Niklaus?" she asked hopefully, "Where is he?"

"Niklaus..." Elijah shook his head, "Where do I begin with our brother Niklaus?" He paused and looked very seriously as Grace, "In your absence, Niklaus has become a terrible villain. He calls himself Klaus and roams the earth like a fearful disease, killing off everything that defies him... so like mother, basically, except he likes to stray from comparison to our parents and does something good everyone once in a while. Rebekah and I have been going to hell and back trying to redeem him, and yet I think he already has."

"How?" Grace asked.

"He-." Elijah was going to tell Grace that he traded places with her to save her and bring her back to her brother and sister, but he didn't want to worry her about it. This was going to be a safe time for her to not worry about any kind of danger. "He fell in love with a bartender down the street... her name is Camille... he has loved only once before and each time they have changed him for the better. Now he has... run off on some kind of self-discovering journey. He sends his best to you, however."

"That is wonderful," she sighed, "And that girl? The brown haired one? You love her?"

Elijah winced turned his head with a mixture of confusion and laughter on his face, "How did you know that?"

"I saw the way you looked at her," Grace smiled brightly, "It was the same way Dimitri and Max looked at me." Elijah sighed and looked away from her. He knew it must have been a difficult thing to think about, but Grace leaned forward and tried to get him to look at her. "She's beautiful, Elijah... You are a very lucky man."

Elijah smiled at looked at the ground before looking back at his sister. "Thank you, Gracie."

Ever since Elijah and Hayley began their relationship, he had dreamt that Grace would approve of her. He wanted the two of them to get along and spend time with each other, laughing. He hoped Hayley would love her just as much as he did. Those dreams were always crushed whenever he woke up and remembered that she was gone. Hearing his sister say that Hayley was beautiful was like opening the gates back up to his dream. Now the hope of the family had finally returned.


End file.
